Definition
FranceConnect is France's identity federation system, operated by the DINUM since 2016.
It provides access to more than 1,400 public and private services by authenticating through an existing third-party account (Impôts, Ameli, MSA, L'Identité Numérique La Poste, France Identité), without creating a new account. FranceConnect+, its enhanced version (2021), reaches the eIDAS Substantial assurance level and opens access to sensitive services (changing bank details on Ameli, qualified signature, tax data), relying on L'Identité Numérique La Poste.
Technical architecture
FranceConnect guarantees a stable pivot identity — surname, given names, date and place of birth — that serves as a unique identification key regardless of the identity provider used. The OIDC sub is derived from it (via a non-reversible algorithm), so that the same user always has the same sub at a given service provider. It all rests on OpenID Connect, a France-specific profile and assurance levels mapped to eIDAS.
FranceConnect vs FranceConnect+
| Aspect | FranceConnect | FranceConnect+ |
|---|---|---|
| eIDAS level | Low | Substantial |
| Identity providers | Multiple (Impôts, Ameli, MSA, La Poste…) | L'Identité Numérique La Poste |
| Authentication | Password (sometimes 2FA) | Enhanced 2FA + prior face-to-face KYC |
| Use case | Routine procedures | Ameli bank details, tax data, signature |
| Cost to the service | Free | Charged |
L'Identité Numérique La Poste
To reach the Substantial level, FranceConnect+ has historically relied on L'Identité Numérique La Poste: KYC at a post office (ID card + facial recognition), an app with biometrics + a secure element, and strong authentication across all FC+ services. With the arrival of France Identité (the digital national ID card), it is no longer the only substantial-level provider.
Use cases
- Public: Impôts, Ameli, La Poste, CAF, France Travail, MSA, CARSAT, electoral proxies.
- Private: banks (faster KYC, reuse of tax identity), energy (Engie, EDF), mobile operators.
What FranceConnect changes for fintech
- Faster KYC: presumption of identity (surname, first name, date of birth, tax address) when the PSU logs in.
- Address verification: the tax notice can be retrieved directly.
- Not a replacement for AML KYC: FC provides neither the ID document nor PEP status — a complement remains necessary to open an account.
- Ameli bank details: accessible with FC+.
Timeline and evolution
- 2016 — launch of FranceConnect.
- 2021 — launch of FranceConnect+.
- 2022 — the France Identité app (digital national ID card).
- 2024-2025 — France Identité becomes a High-level identity provider for FC+.
- 2026-2027 — convergence with the EUDI Wallet; FranceConnect+ will likely become the orchestration layer for the French wallet.
What FranceConnect is not
- Not an identity wallet: it is a federation broker, not a local wallet — the EUDI Wallet (France Identité) succeeds it on that front.
- Not a digital national ID card: that is provided by France Identité.
- Not mandatory: services can choose other mechanisms.
- Not a unique identifier: no NIR is exposed to services (privacy by design).
- Not a signing tool: it must be complemented by a QES (Yousign, France Identité QES).
In the PSD2 / Open Finance ecosystem
FranceConnect plays the role of a complementary identity building block: it speeds up attribute collection at bank onboarding and the retrieval of a tax notice (proof of income) in a credit journey. In PSD2 SCA it is not used directly (each bank handles its own SCA), but its successor, the EUDI Wallet, will be.
Concrete examples
- ~45 million users in 2025-2026 (nearly all adults), for almost 500 million logins per year, and more than 1,400 integrated services.
- Qonto: pre-filling of details via FC to speed up onboarding.
- Younited / Cetelem: automatic retrieval of the tax notice via FC+ for scoring.
- Social housing: automatic completion of the application via FC.
- EUDI Wallet: France Identité will integrate as a High-level identity provider, with shared orchestration over time.
- International comparison: itsme (Belgium), DigiD (Netherlands), AusweisApp + BundID (Germany) — all converging toward the EUDI Wallet.
- Privacy: FC does not store cross-service login history.